Thus in playing Arsenal, Villareal will consider it to be a bit like playing Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid or Barcenlona as they do twice each season. And we might note that in their home game with ...

Now, if the past is anything to go by, the FA and Fifa will say that the courts “don’t understand football” and carry on regardless. And then fall flat on their faces, while desperately trying to ...

As I have already pointed out, pre-season matches are not about winning, but about bedding new players in and making sure that the new players start to get used to the tactics that the team employs, ...

There is a line in the Guardian’s preview of Arsenal for the season that says that “there remain concerns about a lack of creativity in the squad.” ...

The keyword in all this is “frustration”. It has nothing to do with all the players Arsenal are buying. It is that we should beat the Tots and nothing else matters.

Now the first thing to note is that it is going to happen very rarely – each of the 20 Premier League clubs will be involved with “extra access” twice in the entire season, and on each occasion it ...

One of the great points about Arsenal giving Max Dowman outings with the first team in the pre-season tour, is often overlooked in commentaries, but it is real all the same. And it is the impact this ...

The point was put to me yesterday that “in recent years” Tottenham have done better in the league than Arsenal. That didn’t feel right to me so I went and looked, and being an honest chap, I then had ...

In terms of chances created, Arsenal were pretty close to the average: historically in the League, the percentage converted is 12%. Last season for Arsenal it was 11%. Not bad given the injuries to ...